You can see the weakness of a man right through his iris.
RZA, “4th Chamber,” from GZA’s Liquid Swords, 1995. More jewels from RZA…
Posts Tagged With: east coast
God works in different ways and it shows,
And everybody knows: love comes and goes.
Ed O.G., “Love Comes and Goes,” from Ed O.G. and Da Bulldogs’ Roxbury 02119, 1993
Now it’s my turn, and I am concerned
About idiots posing as kings.
What are we here to rule?
I thought we were supposed to sing.
And if we oughta sing, then let us begin to teach.
Many of you are educated…open your mouth and speak!
KRS-One, “I’m Still #1,” from Boogie Down Productions’ By All Means Necessary, 1988
They say it’s lonely at the top, in whatever you do,
You always gotta watch motherfuckers around you.
Nobody’s invincible, no plan is foolproof,
We all must meet our Moment of Truth.
Guru, “Moment of Truth,” from Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth, 1998
Stop walking through life as if you were blind,
You should reach for your goal cause I’m reaching for mine.
MC Shan, “The Bridge,” Down by Law, 1987
More rhymes are funny now, happy and silly now.
Happy-go-lucky on the mic, and meanwhile,
You standin’ still, lookin out for a good rhyme,
Makin the wack junk, wastin’ my good time.
Kool Keith, “I Ain’t Takin’ No Shorts,” from the Ultramagnetic MC’s New York What Is Funky, 1996. More from Kool Keith…
I’m just a bastard with a bad habit,
Bad back, in a black Volkswagen Rabbit
…Shit, I gotta have it.
Black magic woman put a spell on me;
Fuck around and win a spelling bee.
I could walk under ladders, still win the lotto.
Ten minutes flat: built a boat in a bottle.
Action Bronson, “Galactic Love,” Mr. Wonderful, 2015. More from Bronsolini…
The scene of a crime every night at the show,
The fiend of a rhyme on the mic that you know.
It’s only one capable; breaks, the unbreakable.
Melodies, unmakable; pattern, unescapable.
Rakim, “Lyrics of Fury,” from Eric B. and Rakim’s Follow the Leader, 1988. More from Rakim Allah…
This ain’t the world we thought it was when we as in pre-school.
Sometimes it’s hard to be cool, sometimes I feel like I’m see-through.
Sometimes I really wish…I wish that I could be you.
Joey BADA$$, “Black Beetles,” B4.DA.$$, 2015.
You a white boy in a fuckin’ droptop,
Bumpin’ 2Pac, actin’ like you hard? Stop.
Hip-hop music make the world go round,
But buying a record don’t put you down.
You listen to thugs, it don’t make you one;
Never met a Blood or Crip, but you act like one?
Mystic, “Pull Ya Card,” from Da Beatminerz’ Fully Loaded w/Statik, 2004.
And even after all my logic and my theory, I add a ‘motherfucker’ so you ignorant niggas hear me.
Lauryn Hill, “Zealots,” from The Fugees’ The Score, 1996. More from Ms. Hill…
I used to want a Beemer, I used to want a Benz.
One thing that I never wanted was fake friends in the end.
Buckshot, “Duress,” from Black Moon’s War Zone, 1999. More from Buckshot Shorty…
Brothers on the butters can’t flip the Parkay.
Large Professor, “Large Professor,” from Main Source’s Breaking Atoms, 1991. More from Extra P…
Make peace not war, make babies some more, Keep a smile when you travel from shore to shore.
Ghostface Killah, “Nuggets of Wisdom,” from BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah’s Sour Soul, 2015. More nuggets of wisdom from Ghost…
My peoples: if you with me where the fuck you at?
Method Man, “Triumph,” from Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Forever, 1997. More from Method Man…
I’m a true master, you can check my credentials
Cause I choose to use my infinite potential.
Jeru tha Damaja, “Come Clean,” The Sun Rises in the East, 1994
I’ll never understand why a wack rapper tries and
Convinces himself that his image is so fly and
That’s the type of crap you know I’m not buying…
Chumps lack the beats and their rhymes don’t apply.
Guru, “Much Too Much (Mack a Mil),” from Gang Starr’s Daily Operation, 1992. More from Guru…
30 rack on a neck of a artist (Say what?)
About another 20K on his arm (Say what?)
This nigga flashin’ 50 grand,
Walk around here, lookin like food for the wolves.
Listen! Illuminati rap: we don’t ride to that,
Everybody poppin’ molly…look at how they act.
(Y’all sweatin’) The whole place emotional,
Wake up to find out some dude’s Frank Ocean’ed you.
Lil’ Fame, “187,” from M.O.P.’s Street Certified, 2014.
Who gives a fuck about a goddamn Grammy?
Flavor Flav, “Terminator X to the Edge of Panic,” from Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 1988. More P.E. quotes…
It’s like every step bring me close to destiny,
And every breath I get closer to the death of me.
I’m just tryna carry out my own legacy,
But the place I call home ain’t lettin’ me.
Joey Bada$$, “Like Me,” B4.DA.$$, 2015
Fear is weakness, learn from what experience teaches.
Beware of leeches, the vampires, my secrets…
Never follow, cause most niggas is straight up cowards.
Take care of my body’s the temple, my mind is the power.
Nas, “Self Conscience,” from Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB’s Finest, 2000. More from Nas >
Classical slap-stick rappers need Chapstick.
MF Doom, “Rhymes Like Dimes,” Operation: Doomsday!, 1999
My first name must be “He Ain’t Shit”
Cause every time I’m in a car
Bitches be like, “He ain’t shit!”
Redman, “I’ll Bee Dat!”, Doc’s Da Name 2000, 1998
I’ll ignore you sellin crack, killin people, and keepin it real,
But disrespect me and my adopted fam and die young like veal.
El-P, “89.9 Detrimental,” from Company Flow’s Funcrusher Plus, 1997
Now if I worry too much about all my have nots,
I might not recognize just what I’ve got…
Mike G., “Jungle Brother,” from Jungle Brothers’ Raw Deluxe, 1997
Consequence is no coincidence.
Lauryn Hill, “Lost Ones,” The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998
“All I see is blinking lights, track boards and fat mics. 950s, SP-12s, MPC60s…”
– A.G., “Next Level,” from Show & A.G.’s Goodfellas, 1995. DJ Premier closes down the legendary D&D Studios (aka HeadQCourterz) today and migrates to Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. The recording den, where Rakim, KRS-One, Jay Z, Nas and Gang Starr made some of hip-hop’s most canonized songs, will come to a close in 2015 due to new building ownership.
You got a lot of money; OK, sure…
You can’t buy class, you’re a bum with a manicure.
MF Grimm, “The Bear,” from MF Grimm and Drasar Monumental’s Good Morning Vietnam 2: The Golden Triangle, 2013. More jewels from MF Grimm…
Happiness is temporary, always has been.
I just lost one…but sometimes I win,
I always spread love…but sometimes I sin.
Joey Bada$$, “On & On," B4.DA.$$, 2015
Wrote this lyric from in the bed wit’ a chick
She had the tightest grip around the head of my…
…Bic. Now, can I get my pen back?
MF Doom, “Batty-Boys,” Born Like This, 2009. More quotes from MF Doom…
I’m pain in the spoken form;
This new strain came from where hope is gone.
Ka, “Peace Akhi,” The Night’s Gambit, 2014. More quotes from Ka…
They said he was dangerous, well, I’m concerned…
How could he be so dangerous with his back turned?
They said, “Freeze! Halt!” The brother stopped
Threw his hands in the air, yeah, and still he got shot.
They said he had a shiny object in his hand,
So they killed the man.
And is this justice? No way, José.
He didn’t get arrested, he was suspended with pay.
Talk about armed and dangerous, accounted…
How come I never heard nothin else about it?
I’m dead up, I’m goin head up, see, the buck stops
Here. I’m sick and tired of corrupt cops.
I gotta drop, cause I don’t think it will ever stop
My brain is a Tec-9 and it’s kept cocked.
And it’s got just a few more rounds to go,
They’re goin pound for pound, blow for blow.
You want peace? Let the unjust stuff cease:
If we don’t have justice, there’ll be no peace.
Lakim Shabazz, “No Justice No Peace,” The Lost Tribe of Shabazz, 1990
You were put here to protect us.
But who protects us from you?
KRS-One, “Who Protects Us From You?” from Boogie Down Productions’ Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop, 1989
Full moons, skunk weed all up in the room;
You got the munchies, baby? Ice cold milk and Lorna Doones.
Ghostface Killah, “Freek’n You (Mr. Dalvin’s Freak Mix,” from Jodeci’s The Show, the After Party, the Hotel, 1995. More from GFK >
I’m that neighborhood blizzard flooding these streets with snow.
Kool G. Rap, “The Battlefield,” from Ghostface Killah’s 36 Seasons, 2014. More from the Kool Genius of Rap…
My duration’s infinite, money-wise or physiology.
Nas, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ In Da Park),” Illmatic, 1994. More from Nasir Jones…
I’mma tell you a little somethin about this chick around my way,
She was a dime with a brown skin complexion…
She looked so good you’d think you wouldn’t need protection,
Girlfriend was top choice selection, around in every section.
They got twisted, she said “No condom,” so he risked it,
Caught in the mix and now you sick kid.
Word is bond, I thought by now you learned your lesson:
Fucking around with no protection.
Pete Rock, “The Yearn,” from Lost Boyz’ Legal Drug Money, 1995. More from The Chocolate Boy Wonder >
A thin line between the haters and the ones who love us.
A thinner line from the freedom and the foul judges,
In the streets where the snake niggas hold grudges.
Tragedy Khadafi, “Calm Down,” Thug Matrix II, 2006. More from The Intelligent Hoodlum…
It’s for real though, let’s connect, politic…ditto!
We could trade places, get lifted in the staircases,
Word up, peace, incarcerated scarfaces.
Raekwon, “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, 1994. More from Rae and The Wu…
Believers of Jesus be denouncing Satan on every level,
But every Halloween they’re dressin’ like devils.
KRS-One, “Higher Level,” Return of the Boom Bap, 1993. More from KRS…
I knew this girl named Tropicana,
She’s always juicin’.
Producing cash for a sexual task.
She loves men that trick like Halloween and treat…
You ain’t paid? Then your grade is incomplete.
Lord Jamar, “Slow Down,” from Brand Nubian’s One For All, 1990. More from the Brand Nubian Gods…
Now when freaks get dressed to go out at night,
They like to wear leather jackets, chains and spikes.
They wear rips and zippers all in their shirts,
Real tight pants and fresh mini skirts.
All kinds of colors runnin’ through their hair,
And you could just about find a freak anywhere.
But then again, you could know someone all their life,
But might not know they’re a freak unless you see them at night.
Whodini, “Freaks Come out at Night,” Escape, 1984
My vocab is powerful, spit shit subliminal,
Slang therapist, my whole style is criminal.
Bugged like Bob Digital, fly visual,
Mind, body and soul, I’m a strong individual…
Come through in the final hour, with gun showers
Stand the fuck up like Flav to fight the power.
I’m an activist, socialist, deadly ass poetist
Supreme Clientele, I’m a goddamn vocalist!
Ghostface Killah, “Gunshowers,” from BADBADNOTGOOD and Ghostface’s upcoming collabo Sour Soul, to be released in 2015. More quotes from GFK >
It was Saturday night and I was feelin kinda funny,
Gold around my neck, pockets full of money.
Schoolly D, “Saturday Night,” from Saturday Night! – The Album, 1986
Rap is not pop. If you call it that, then stop.
Q-Tip, “Check the Rhime,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, 1991. More quotes from The Abstract…
Rap is like a set-up…a lot of games,
A lot of suckers with colorful names.
‘I’m so-and-so,’ ‘I’m this, I’m that.’
But they all just wick-wick-wack.
KRS-One, “My Philosophy,” from BDP’s By All Means Necessary, 1988. More from KRS…
They’d rather see me fail than succeed,
That’s why I’m alone on my own with no team.
Don’t need no green, though I got some to spend;
In the end…all I really need is a friend.
Bishop Nehru, “So Alone,” from Bishop Nehru + MF DOOM’s NehurvianDOOM, 2014
My mic is a Magnum.
See me and this chick, we go back like Cro-Magnon.
Man…we did it in the back of your Magnum;
I said, ‘Put them Lifestyles back, give me the Magnums.’
Pharoahe Monch, “Rap Life,” from Diamond D’s The Diam Piece, 2014. More lyrics from Pharoahe Monch…
Excuse us for the news,
You might not be amused;
But did you know White comes from Black?
No need to be confused.
Chuck D, “Fear of a Black Planet,” from Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet, 1990. More quotes from PE…